Have you heard the story of King Ahaz?
He became king of Judah when he was twenty years old (in approximately 732 BC) and reigned for sixteen years. Some of the first words written about him state that he did not do what was right. He copied the evil acts of other kings around him. The story tells of how he experienced defeat. He plundered the temple and palaces of other kings; yet none of it helped him. Instead of changing his ways and relying on God, he only relied more on the practices that were very obviously not saving him. It actually states, “At the time of his distress, King Ahaz became more unfaithful to the Lord.”
I don’t want to reduce scripture to a fable or “write myself into it”. But it occurred to me that frankly, I was much the same way. I knew what was right. But I kept trying to do it my way. A way that, as with King Ahaz, mimicked the cultural standard. It brought me a lot of pain. Only by God’s grace did a prideful heart repent. You are not promised a life without trouble. Not all suffering is a curse. Not all pain or hardship is the result of a wayward heart. But there is an undeniable difference between facing the trials of life with a soul firmly rooted in peace and creating your own endless wretched tribulation because of your refusal to turn back.
While it’s trendy to speak of endless grace, it is unpopular to mention that you have to surrender to it. Do you have peace? Would you humble yourself to get it? Do you have hope? Would you admit your wrongdoings to get it? At the end of his story, it says that King Ahaz was buried, though not in the tomb of the Kings. Details of his ruinous rule are well documented in archeological finds, historical rabbinical and biblical text. His son, Hezekiah, succeeded the throne. Hezekiah’s first order of business was restoring the temple that his father had worked to destroy. And some 700 years later? A prophecy Isaiah had spoken during the rule of Ahaz came to pass: Jesus Christ was born. Do you know who is listed in the genealogical history of Christ? King Ahaz.
He is a God of redemption. It’s written into every detail.
2 Chronicles 28, 2 Kings 16, Isaiah 7, Matthew 1:9
Emmy Goulet 